Some Thoughts on Designing Eye Movement Studies for Novice Programmers

I first describe my three-stage model of how novices understand code. In the first stage, the novice cannot trace code. In the second stage, the novice has mastered tracing, but, crucially, that is the only skill they have mastered. It is only when novices reach the third stage that they begin to reason about code in a more general, abstract way. Most programming instructors mistakenly assume that all students begin at the third stage. Having described the three-stage model, I then explore implications of the model for the design of eye movement studies. I also provide some pieces of code that would make for interesting eye movement studies.